U.S. wheat value still low

WHEAT traded near a 19-month low in Chicago as an increased outlook for Argentine production of the grain adds to signs of record global supplies.

Argentina Thursday raised its forecast for the 2013-14 wheat harvest to 9 million metric tons from 8.5 million tons. Prices slumped 22 per cent this year in Chicago trading as world production heads for an all-time high of 711.42 million tons, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Argentine forecast "further emphasizes the abundant global supplies that the wheat market is experiencing," said Vanessa Tan, an analyst at Phillip Futures Pte in Singapore.

Wheat for delivery in March was little changed at $6.105 a bushel at 7:39 a.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade. Prices touched $6.0725, the lowest for a most-active contract since May 16, 2012, and retreated for a seventh session in a row.

"We're seeing more examples of wheat purchases bypassing U.S. supplies," Tan said. "U.S. wheat is continuing to lose its competitiveness in the global market."

Planting of winter wheat in Germany, the European Union's second-biggest grower after France, rose 2.5 per cent to 3.14 million hectares, the national statistics office said.

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